When the Lights Go on Again
by acaudill0068
Summary: Puck deployed right after Pearl Harbor and Rachel's an army nurse.  They meet when he's injured and sent to the field hospital she's stationed at.  Mentions of some of my favorite couplings but mostly centers around Puckleberry.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: This is a WWII fic. I was sitting in lecture about the history of nursing and that's how this idea came to me. It was meant to just be a one-shot but as I was writing this it got pretty long so I'm planning on this just being a two-shot. I've never written any fics like this but I hope you like it.

The dates are pretty much here to help you follow the story line better so hopefully no one gets confused.

* * *

December 3rd, 1943

Rachel heard the helicopter before she actually saw it. She heard the screams next, even over the loud propellers. She hated when that happened. Her stomach twisted but she pushed the wisps of hair that had escaped her bun back from her face and hurried out of the large tent to find three wounded soldiers getting unloaded from the helicopter. One was dead on arrival, one was rushed off to amputate his arm, and the third was unconscious with a bullet in his gut. Rachel watched as the third soldier was taken to a smaller tent with a doctor and a few nurses to dislodge the bullet and stitch him up. She sighed, seeing her services weren't needed and walked back into her own tent to tend to the wounded soldiers that did need her.

She was positioning a corporal in his bed when Rachel looked up to see the soldier that had suffered from the bullet wound in the stomach this morning being transferred into bed 37. She walked over to see that he was still unconscious but the other nurses assured her that he would be fine given he got plenty of rest and fluids. He had lost quite a bit of blood so fluids should definitely be encouraged when he woke up.

The other nurses walked off and Rachel gingerly reached out to finger the young soldier's tags. She read that his name was Noah Puckerman and she sighed. Looking at the man's face she saw that he couldn't be more than 25. She silently prayed that this young man pulled through. Even though Rachel was relatively new to being this close to the front lines she had come to see that most soldiers survived if they made it through the first night. She had seen numerous soldiers survive with much worse injuries so she assured herself that this one would make it.

She carefully took a damp rag and wiped the man's face. His skin was clammy and sweaty. Rachel hoped the man wouldn't get an infection. Infections were one of the biggest causes of deaths during this war. She checked the man's dressing one last time – the sutures were holding well and there wasn't a great amount of drainage, at least not more than could be expected – before heading off to the next bed. It was almost nightfall and she needed to make sure everyone was fed and bathed before leaving for the night. As she worked on the wounded soldier's her eyes kept drifting back to bed 37; to the soldier she now knew as Noah Puckerman.

It was nearly sunrise before Rachel's head finally it her thin pillow. She had to be up in a few hours but she figured she could squeeze in some sleep before then. Her eyes slowly drifted to a close before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

December 5th, 1943

When Rachel tied her apron around her waist she made her way back into the large green tent she was assigned to and made sure her hat was in place on top of her head. She busied herself with helping the other nurses to pass out breakfast. It consisted of toast, orange juice, and bland oatmeal. It wasn't much but the soldiers were grateful.

She was tucking in the corners of the bed sheet on an empty bed that just this morning had housed a Sergeant before he had passed away when she heard a deep voice behind her.

"You look tired." The voice said.

Startled, she whirled around to see the soldier, now known as Sergeant Noah Puckerman, staring back at her. She moved towards him quietly. "You're awake." She stated in a whisper.

"Yea." He tried to sit up but winced and his face contorted in pain.

"Don't move." She instructed and helped him lower himself back on the bed. "You'll rip your stitches and that would be painful." She gripped the back of his neck and helped him sip the cold water from the metal cup in her hand. "Small sips, okay?"

"Thanks." He looked up at her after he had drunk a glass of water and half of another. "I guess I was thirsty, huh?" He joked.

"You've been asleep for a while. It's understandable after everything you've been through." She pulled the covers back from his body revealing his chest and stomach. She made sure to keep his lower half covered as she examined his dressing. Luckily, he wasn't bleeding anymore and when she pulled the white gauze back she noted that the wound wasn't draining as much anymore. "Your stitches are holding beautifully." She commented absently.

"What happened?" He asked and looked down at his wound. "I remember getting shot but after that everything went kind of fuzzy."

"I'm not sure on the details but it looks like you got ambushed maybe." She replied. "You showed up here with two other soldiers."

"That's right." He nodded as if it was all coming back to him. "Damn Germans." He grumbled. "Where are they? The other men?"

Rachel bit into her bottom lip and sighed before opening her mouth again. "When you got here one of them was already gone. He was badly hurt and there was nothing we could do. I got a look at his tags before they took him off. Rutherford."

"Matt." He groaned. "Fuck."

"The other one, he was bigger, he was hurt as well. We had to amputate his left arm." Rachel looked up. "He's over there." She pointed to a bed on the other side of the tent.

"Finn." He nodded. "I'm glad he made it. Is he awake yet?"

"No." Rachel shook her head. "Was he a friend of yours?"

"Kind of." He shrugged. "I don't know him that well but he was in my barrack."

"Oh…" Rachel glanced up at the man's face. He had bright green eyes and she hated to admit it, but he was actually very handsome. "Sergeant?"

He looked over at him and shook his head. "Call me Noah."

"I think Sergeant is more appropriate." She replied.

"Yes, well pretty girls get to call me by my first name." He smiled when she blushed slightly and then looked back down to watch as she cleaned and dressed his wound.

"Okay, _Noah_, may I ask how old you are?" She didn't look up at him, instead choosing to keep her eyes on his stomach as she taped the gauze down over his wound.

"Twenty-four." Noah told her. "And you?"

"Twenty-three." She covered him back up and fluffed his pillow slightly. "Where are you from?" She pried. She knew she should probably let him rest some more but the way he smiled at her question let her know he didn't mind the intrusion.

"Ohio." He answered.

"You're pretty far from home." She looked down at him and he nodded. "I'm from Kentucky, although you probably don't care. I'll just leave you alone now."

"I don't mind." His words stopped her from turning to leave. "I've been surrounded by men and explosions for the last two years. Getting pampered by a hot nurse is actually kind of refreshing."

She tried to hide her blush but she knew it was futile. "I don't think I'd go that far." She said referring to how he described her appearance. "I've been working all day and I know my hair is falling down. I look atrocious."

Noah rolled his eyes. "What's your name?" He asked and looked up to meet her eyes.

"Rachel. Rachel Berry."

"Rachel." He repeated her name. "That's a pretty name."

She smiled down at him. "You should get some rest. You may be out of the woods as of right now but if you don't get some sleep your body will never heal."

"Will you come talk to me later?" He asked suddenly.

She nodded. "Of course. If you're still awake when I get some free time I'll come visit with you." She assured him before moving on to the next bed.

Rachel was just getting done at almost eleven o'clock that night. She glanced towards Noah's bed, satisfied that he was asleep, before heading out to her own tent she shared with the other nurses. She was happy to finally be able to sit down. She changed her clothes silently and then slipped under the thin blanket that didn't help much in the cold, December weather. She slowly fell asleep, letting her mind wander to thoughts of the handsome soldier in bed 37.

* * *

December 25th, 1943

Rachel had stopped by Noah's bed every night for the past few weeks and each night their talks got longer. Noah told her of the war, the battles he had seen, the friends he had lost and she told him of the injuries she had seen coming through. She knew she shouldn't get so attached to him but she liked the way she was able to talk to Noah. She would rant for hours about nothing in particular and he would just sit there and quietly listen. She told him about how she wanted to be a singer on the Broadway stage in New York and about how she used to dance every night with her father and her cousin, Artie. She told him more about herself than she had ever told anyone and she had a feeling he was doing the same with her.

Noah had been able to sit up and even walk around a little bit with Rachel's help. She was just helping him back into the bed that night when he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" She asked, pulling the blankets up to cover his chest and arms. The tent didn't do much to keep out the wind.

"I just realized that it's Christmas." He replied.

"Oh." She nodded. "Seeing as we're both Jewish, I don't think we have to worry about celebrating the Christmas holiday."

"I guess not." He sighed. "This just means I've been gone from home for two years. I deployed two years ago today."

"Right after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. That's very noble of you." When she was satisfied that he was comfortable she straightened up and stepped back from his bed.

"I miss my Ma." He told her. "And my little sister. She's 17 now." He shifted in his bed. "How about you? Who'd you leave behind?"

"How do you know I left anybody behind?" She asked.

"Everyone left someone behind." He shrugged. "A girl like you has to have some guy back home waiting for her to come home to him. Or is he on the front lines?"

"There's no guy." She replied. "Unless my dad counts. My mom passed away when I was younger. He's really the only one I have back home. I still write him but it's hard to keep letters going back and forth regularly. We usually only write to each other a few times a month."

"I write my ma every week." He said. "Do you think you could get me a pen and paper? I should write her and tell her what's going on."

"Of course." Rachel nodded and was back a few minutes later with what he had asked for. "I'll leave you alone so you can write your mother. I'll be back later to check on you."

Later that night, as many of the nurses went around spreading Christmas joy to the wounded soldiers Rachel found herself moving towards Noah who seemed to be the only one that wasn't enjoying the holiday spirit. He smiled at her when she came up to his bed and she pretended that she needed to check his dressing. She wasn't totally pretending; she did need to check on his wound but she could have waited until morning.

"I finished my letter." Noah told her.

"You did?" She glanced up at him but her eyes were back on his dressing just as quickly. "That's nice. I'm sure she'll be very excited to hear from you."

"I wrote about you." He said.

She snorted. "I'm nothing to write home to mom about."

"I told her that she doesn't need to worry about me because I'm doing perfectly fine with a gorgeous nurse taking great care of me. I told her about your amazing brown eyes and your… your hands." She followed his gaze down to see that he was making small circles on the top of her hand with his thumb.

"Sergeant?" Rachel looked wary and when she went to pull away from him, his grip on her hand tightened.

"You have really cute hands, did you know that?" He locked eyes with her and without thinking she leaned closer to him. "Sit down, Rachel." He tugged on her hand and she looked around the room, making sure that everyone else was too busy to notice her, before perching herself on the edge of the bed. "It's snowing outside." He commented.

"Yes, it is." She nodded. "It's also very cold."

"Can I go out there?" Noah asked. "Just for a few minutes."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You're still wounded." She sighed.

"I've been walking really well today." He urged. "Please, Rachel, I really want to see the snow."

She pursed her lips and then stood up. "Let me see what I can do."

His eyes followed her across the room and she started talking to an older man that Noah recognized as the doctor that had been checking up on him. The talked for a few minutes and when Rachel came back over to him she smiled slightly.

"I can go?" He asked hopefully.

She nodded and when he broke out into a wide smile she couldn't help from giggling softly. "Ten minutes. Ten minutes and then straight to bed." She told him in a firm voice.

"Deal." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and with a little help from Rachel, he was standing and taking small steps towards flap of the tent that led outside after she had made she he was wearing plenty of clothes.

She gripped his hand firmly and let him lean heavily against her so that she was supporting most of his weight. He tried not to wince in pain but she saw the pained expression on his face.

"Noah." She whispered. "You shouldn't push yourself. I knew this was a bad idea. It's barely been a month…"

"I'm fine, Rachel. Honest. See?" He smiled down at her and she rolled her eyes.

"When you collapse in the snow I'm leaving you there. It'll serve you right for not listening to me." She grumbled once they got outside.

She hung the blanket she had brought with her over his shoulders but still kept a tight grip on his hand as they stepped further away from the tent. He looked up at the sky and laughed when the cold, wet snowflakes hit his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, studying his expression.

"Are you kidding me? I'm standing outside in the snow and I don't have to worry about getting shot or blown up by Germans. I haven't been this great in years, Rach." Rachel had never been one for nicknames but when his nickname for her escaped her lips she didn't mind too much. She didn't even try to care and she wasn't exactly sure why.

"We should get back inside." She told him but he stayed rooted in his spot.

"Rachel." He said her name and she looked up at him.

She let herself get lost in his eyes for a few seconds as she wondered how someone's eyes could be that green. She felt herself step closer to him and under the moonlight she saw that his eyes were not only green but he had specks of chocolate brown mixed in as well. She felt his hand reach up to cup her cheek and she knew what was coming but she didn't try to stop it.

His eyes drifted down to her lips and then back up to lock eyes with her. Her breath hitched when his lips brushed against hers. She felt her heart jump into her throat when she found herself starting to kiss him back.

Rachel was twenty-three and she'd never been kissed before. Well, until now. He kissed her harder then and she felt his tongue swipe across her bottom lip. She wasn't sure what was going on but somehow she felt like she knew what she was doing. Her hands came up to grip the back of his neck as her fingers lightly pulled at the short brown hairs that were growing at the nape of his neck. It wasn't until he moaned into her mouth that she was shaken back to her senses and pulled away from him quickly.

"I'm so sorry." She pushed herself away from him. "That was very unprofessional of me."

"Rachel." He whispered.

"Let's get you back to bed." She grabbed his hand, leading him back towards the tent. "I'm positive it's been over ten minutes and the doctor will be upset if I keep you from resting any longer."

Once Noah was back in his own bed and covered up properly, Rachel moved to start helping the rest of the soldiers get to bed. She was about to leave for the night when her eyes once again landed on bed 37. Noah was staring back at her and she blushed before quickly ducking from the tent.

* * *

December 30th, 1943

"It's almost midnight." Noah noted as Rachel pulled the blanket up to cover him completely.

"You should be asleep." She told him.

"I want my New Year's kiss." He smirked and she just rolled her eyes.

"I don't know where you plan on getting it. Besides, New Year's Eve isn't until tomorrow." She frowned and tucked him in. "What happened the other night shouldn't have happened. I over stepped by boundaries."

"I kissed you, remember?"

"Nevertheless, it will never happen again. You'll be leaving for the main hospital in a few days and I don't need to get attached. It would only hurt us both, Noah." Rachel shook her head and started to step away from him.

"I'll be leaving soon." He said as if this piece of information was just hitting him.

"Yes, you will." She sighed and then moved away from him, going to see if Betty, the head nurse, needed anything to be done.

Her eyes darted back to Noah and saw that he was just staring blankly at the opposite wall. She gnawed on her lip, forcing herself to listen to what Betty was saying and not think about how Noah would be leaving in eight days.

* * *

December 31st, 1943

"I've decided that I'm going to stay." Noah told her once she arrived at his bed the next night. She had been avoiding him all day but it was nightfall and she needed to check his dressing. "I'm not going to let them kick me out of here. I like it here and I'm not leaving."

"I don't think it works like that." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Your wound is healing very well and you're walking a lot easier now. You're going to be transferred to the closest military hospital next week."

"I don't want to leave you yet, Rachel." His eyes plead with her but she focused on examining his dressing instead of letting herself get sucked in by his words. The dressing didn't need changing, at least not yet, so she just covered the wound back up with the white gauze. "I like you and I'd love to get to know you better."

"You're enlisted and I'm an army nurse. That's not allowed and we both know it." Rachel shook her head, palpating his stomach a little harder than she really needed to too. "It's unprofessional, Noah. We could both get in a lot of trouble if someone found out."

"It's not like it's illegal for us to get together, Rach." Noah frowned. "It's just looked down upon."

"That's enough, Noah." She hissed. "I refuse to have this conversation with you. I am a nurse. I am doing my job and that is to make sure that you get better. I can't do my job if you keep looking at me like that and saying these sweet things. I can't…" Rachel looked away from him. "I just can't, Noah." She covered him back up before rushing off before he had time to say anything else.

Rachel moved towards the bed across the room; the one Noah told her was Finn. He had woken up several days ago and wasn't taking his amputation well.

"How are you today?" Rachel asked him once she reached his bedside.

"Better." He replied quietly. "And you?"

"I'm doing just fine." She smiled softly. "Do you want to try getting out of bed? The doctor suggested you walk around, maybe get some fresh air. I know its December but it's actually not that cold outside tonight."

"I'd like that." He nodded.

"Are you a Sergeant as well?" Rachel asked him. "Noah told me that you two were in a barrack together."

"Noah?" Finn grinned.

"Sergeant Puckerman." She quickly corrected herself. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Miss Berry." Finn looked down at her once she had him standing. "And I'm just a Private. You can call me Finn."

"Okay." She smiled as well, leading him outside. She could feel Noah's eyes burning into her but she chose to ignore them and kept walking, making light conversation with Finn.

"He likes you." Finn said once they were out of the tent. He leaned up against a tall tree and Rachel sighed from beside him. "I see the way he looks at you when you two are talking."

"It's just a stupid crush." Rachel mumbled.

"I've seen the way he looks at you. It's not just a crush he has on you." Finn countered.

"No, I meant for me. He's handsome, nice, and he's this amazing, brave soldier. Of course I have a crush on him but… but I've never been with a guy. My God, I'd never been kissed before Noah." Rachel wrung her hands nervously. "This is all just moving way too fast and I need to stop it. He's a soldier and I'm a nurse. He's going to be leaving next week and I'm never going to see him again. It's just this dumb infatuation, that's all. I'll get over it and he'll forget all about me once he meets some new girl." Rachel shook her head. "I should get back inside. It's late and I have to make sure everyone is ready for bed. Stay out here as long as you want, Private, just make sure you're in bed soon."

"Goodnight, Miss Berry." Finn called after her as she hurried back inside the tent.

Rachel was tucking a soldier into bed when she heard a commotion on the other side of the tent. She looked up to find an older nurse trying to talk to Noah but he wasn't having that. He was arguing with her and Rachel hurried over to see what was going on.

"What happened?" Rachel asked the nurse she knew as Madelyn.

"I'm trying to change his dressing and he's fighting me." Madelyn huffed.

"I don't want her touching me." Noah frowned and looked up at Rachel. "I don't like her."

"Nurse Madelyn is perfectly capable of taking care of you." Rachel replied. "She's got many more years of experience than I do."

"Yea, but I like you more." Noah told her.

Rachel blushed and looked up at Madelyn. "I can take care of Sergeant Puckerman." Rachel assured the older nurse. "I was just about to leave for the night anyway. I can handle this." Madelyn nodded and stalked off. "Why would you act like that?" Rachel scolded him and pulled the sheets back, examining his wound.

"I don't want that old hag." Noah pouted.

"Noah!" Rachel admonished. "Madelyn is only a few years older than I am."

"Her hands were cold and rough." He reached down to take Rachel's hand in his. "Not like yours. Yours are warm and small and… perfect."

Rachel blushed again and ripped her hand from his grasp. "This is highly inappropriate."

"This whole damn war is inappropriate." Noah grumbled.

Rachel silently worked as she changed his dressing and once she was done she covered him back up. She looked up to see that it was nearly midnight. "The new year is almost here." She commented. "Maybe it will be the year this terrible war will end."

"I hope so." Noah agreed, watching as Rachel pushed the loose strands of hair from her face. "Am I going to get that kiss?" He asked seriously. "One minute, Rachel. One minute and it's 1944. I'd like to start that year with a bang."

"Noah." She bit into her bottom lip and looked around. Most of the other nurses were talking and laughing with the wounded soldiers that were still awake. "You should be asleep by now."

"One kiss, Rachel. That's all I'm asking for." Noah eyes pleaded with her and Rachel felt her resolve start to chip away at the corners.

She searched the room, trying to find an excuse to leave Noah's bedside but no one seemed to need any help. Most of the soldiers were already asleep or were content in their beds waiting until midnight. She heard the other nurses start the countdown and Rachel's eyes flashed back to Noah. He was looking at her expectantly.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three…" Rachel heard the countdown grow louder as everyone got more excited but it sounded like static in her head.

Noah smiled up at her and she felt her heart jump. He had a beautiful smile, wonderful lips. She sucked in a breath. "One kiss?" She asked.

"Rachel." He breathed her name out when she leaned down towards him and she felt her cheeks grow hot. "_Rachel_." He repeated and it made her throat dry suddenly. She felt the desire flare up in her stomach when her lips met his.

She could vaguely hear cheering in the background as the people around her rang in the New Year but all she could think of was the way Noah's lips were moving on hers. The kiss only lasted a few seconds but Rachel felt like it had been much longer. She straightened up and blushed slightly. She tried not to look like a complete idiot but she knew she had a dazed look on her face. She cleared her throat loudly and stepped back from the bed.

"I think that was a nice way of telling you how thankful I am that you were brave enough to enlist. I will see you in the morning. Goodnight, Sergeant Puckerman." She said awkwardly because all she really wanted to do was call him Noah.

* * *

January 1st, 1944

When Rachel walked into the tent the next morning she felt the panic fun through her body when bed 37 was empty. She zeroed in on Betty and rushed over to the nurse.

"Where's Noah?" Rachel asked and Betty scrunched up her brow. "S-Sergeant Puckerman? Bed 37? Has he left yet? Is he okay?"

"Sergeant Puckerman is perfectly fine." Betty assured Rachel and gestured across the room.

Rachel followed Betty's gaze to see that Noah was sitting at Finn's bedside. Rachel let out a breath of relief when she saw the two men were talking and laughing. She avoided Betty's eyes and made her way around the room, helping the men eat breakfast before she finally arrived at Finn's bed.

"Good morning." She walked over to Finn and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. "Your fever has subsided. That's a good sign." She told Finn. "It's nice to see you socializing." She looked over at Noah. "And it's nice to see Sergeant Puckerman out of bed. I assume you're having a much easier time getting around."

"Noah." Noah corrected quickly. "And yes, I'm moving around very well."

"That's good." Rachel nodded curtly. "Maybe this means you'll be able to get transferred to the main hospital sooner." She kept her voice calm and her face fixed in a blank expression. She was determined to keep her distance from Noah. "I'll check back later on the both of you."

Finn watched Rachel walk off before smacking Noah's chest with his good arm. "You're an idiot."

"Ow, I'm wounded over here." Noah complained.

"Yea, well, I'm missing an arm so I beat you." Finn chuckled. "She's pretty." He nodded towards Rachel who was helping a young soldier eat.

"She's beautiful." Noah agreed and his eyes fell on Rachel. She straightened up and the two boys watched as she pushed her hat back on her head and fixed her apron.

"I have a girl back home." Finn spoke up. "Her name is Quinn."

"Finn and Quinn?" Puck tore his gaze from Rachel and looked back at Finn.

"Yea." Finn smiled. "She's amazing. We got married right before I deployed. Here, I have a picture of her." He pulled out a worn picture and showed it to Noah.

Noah took the picture carefully in his hands. Quinn was a blonde girl, tall, and Finn told him that she had amazing green eyes. In the picture she was standing on a porch, wearing this red and white checkered button down blouse tucked into a pair of denim shorts, barefoot, smiling widely as Finn hugged her from behind, his arms wrapped around her waist loosely. They were smiling this goofy grin and Finn told Noah that the picture was taken the afternoon after their wedding.

"She's pretty." Noah nodded, handing the picture back to Finn.

"I can't wait to get back home to her." Finn smiled at the picture as his fingers brushed over to the worn paper. "I've only been gone a year but it feels like forever since I've seen her or kissed her. I miss her so much." Finn looked back at Noah. "What about you? Do you have some girl waiting at home for you?"

"Just my Ma and sister, Sarah." Noah shrugged and his eyes found Rachel again. She was taking her apron off as she left the tent.

"You care about her." Finn said matter-of-factly.

"No." Noah lied.

"She cares about you." Finn smiled. "She basically told me herself."

"I'm leaving in six days." Noah replied as if that explained everything. "I won't see her again after I leave. She'll stay here taking care of wounded soldiers and I'm going back out to the front lines."

"You're not going home?" Finn asked.

"No." Noah shook his head. "I made a promise to my country and I'm determined to keep it. Hopefully this damn war will end soon and I'll get to go home but until then I'm going to keep fighting."

Finn nodded. "I understand. I'd like to go back out but seeing as I'm missing an arm I don't think I'll be much help. I'd probably be in the way more than I'd be helping."

Noah excused himself after that, and made his way out of the tent in the direction Rachel had gone. He knew he wasn't supposed to leave but everyone was too busy to notice he was sneaking out anyway. He found her sitting under a tree as she ate a roll and sipped on some water.

"You aren't supposed to be out here." Rachel said when she felt him come up beside her.

"I know." He replied and she stood up to face him.

"What is this, Noah?" She asked. "Why can't you just leave this alone?"

"I…" Noah's gaze drifted to her lips and then back to her eyes. "I can't stop thinking about that kiss." He admitted.

"Which one?" He saw a small smile playing on her lips.

He chuckled and then Rachel paled. "What is it?" He asked, concern thick in his voice.

"You need to get inside." Rachel grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the tent. "The helicopter is coming." She explained and then Noah heard it. It was close.

"Shit." He mumbled. "That means more injured men, doesn't it?"

"Sadly, yes." Rachel grimaced and led Noah back to bed before hurrying out to see what had happened. She prayed that the soldier's weren't injured too badly and that they made it. Unfortunately, God didn't seem to be listening today because neither of the two men that arrived on the helicopter made it through the night.

* * *

January 3rd, 1944

"Rachel?" Noah's voice was quiet and she was still a few beds over, tending to another soldier's dressing. "Rach?" His voice grew louder and more anxious.

Rachel looked up and felt her breath catch in her throat. "Noah." She whispered when she took in his appearance. She quickly gestured for a younger nurse to finish the dressing Rachel was working on before hurrying over to Noah. "Oh, Noah, please, no." She pulled the cleaning rag from her apron and wiped the sweat from his face.

"I'm not feeling too well." He whispered, his voice raspy.

"Here, drink some water." She gripped the back of his neck and lifted the cup to his mouth. He drank greedily and then she helped him back flat on the bed. "You've got a fever." She pressed the back on his hand against his forehead. "You must be getting an infection."

"I'm tired, Rachel." Noah told her.

"Sshh." Rachel shushed him. "It's okay, just go to sleep. You need rest. It's the only way your body is going to beat this." She said.

"Will you sing me a song? I'd love to hear your voice." Noah looked up at her. "I figure I'm going to die soon anyway, I'd hate to leave without hearing you sing."

"Don't say that." Rachel shook her head. "You survived a bullet of shrapnel in your stomach. You can pull through a lousy infection." She felt her voice waiver. "I'm not going to sing to you. It will give you something to look forward to when you get better."

"Rachel." Noah smiled softly.

"Go to sleep, Noah." Rachel told him. She stood there, holding his hand until he fell asleep, and quietly mumbled a prayer to whoever would listen that Noah would get better and soon.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully you guys didn't hate this too terribly much. Please review and let me know if you want me to finish this.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: Many of you probably noticed that history is not a very good subject for me so I apologize for my many, many mistakes. I got an anonymous review pointing out that helicopters weren't used until the fifties and I just wanted to thank whoever that was. I probably should have mentioned in the first part that I don't do research… at all. The best word to describe me would probably be lazy. I don't know much about WWII so I'm not sure why I chose this war. The only things I know about this war is what I've read in my nursing textbook, which isn't much. I probably should have stuck with the Korean war like I planned because I know pretty much everything there is to know about that war but that's probably because my dad has made me watch the entire M*A*S*H series at least seven times with him. Anyways, thanks again for whoever mentioned that and there will most likely be more mistakes in this second part so I apologize in advance.

* * *

January 5th, 1944

"Quinn's lovely." Rachel smiled, passing the picture back to Finn and settled down in the chair at his bedside. "I'd love to meet her sometime."

"Yea." Finn grinned and then his eyes moved towards Noah on the other side of the room. "He hasn't woken up yet?"

"Every now and then he gets up but it's just to use the bathroom or ask for something to eat or drink." Rachel sighed. "The doctor said that it's a pretty nasty infection. He must have gotten it from one of the other soldiers."

"I'm sure he'll be okay." Finn told her and Rachel tried to find some kind of hope in his words but she fell short when she saw the saddened expression cross Finn's face.

"I just want this war to be over." She sighed, tiredly.

"We all do." Finn leaned back on his pillows.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's late and you must want to sleep." Rachel quickly jumped up from the chair and started to tuck Finn in. "I'm so sorry I kept you up, Private."

"It's okay." Finn assured her. "Anytime you wanna talk, I don't mind listening. It's not like there's anything else to do around her." He smiled up at her.

"Thanks." Rachel smiled gratefully before moving on from his bed. She slipped her apron off and after checking on Noah one last time, she made her way to her bed for some much needed rest of her own.

* * *

January 6th, 1944

Rachel took a deep breath before stepping into the tent. She hoped that Noah would be sitting up in bed and would be over his infection. She zeroed in on his bed as soon as she stepped through the flap of the tent and apparently God had met her halfway because Betty was helping Noah sit up in bed and spoon feeding him some broth. She quickly made her way towards his bed and felt her heart skip a beat when he tried to smile at her.

"You're up." She smiled warmly.

"Yea." He nodded.

"I can take over from here." Rachel told Betty and the older nurse passed her the bowl of soup. "Thanks, Betty." Rachel told her gratefully.

Betty hadn't missed the way Noah and Rachel had been talking and she definitely didn't miss the New Year's Eve kiss but Rachel appreciated that her superior hadn't said anything. Yet.

"Do you feel better today?" Rachel asked, turning her attention back to Noah.

"Definitely." Noah nodded. She carefully blew on the spoonful of broth before feeding it to the soldier in front of her. "I guess this means that I'll have to leave tomorrow anyway, won't it?"

Rachel felt her grip loosen on the spoon as her stomach fell but she quickly regained her composure. "I guess so." She tried not to let her voice waiver but she wasn't sure it she had succeeded. The look on Noah's face let her know he knew she was upset.

"We'll see each other again." He told her.

"No we won't. You'll go back to Ohio and I'll go back to Kentucky. We'll forget all about each other, Noah." Rachel looked down at the bowl of broth, not able to look him in the eyes.

"I wouldn't let that happen." He smiled. "There's no way I'm forgetting about you, Rach. We'll see each other again." He repeated.

"Noah." Rachel bit into her bottom lip.

"I promise." He lifted her chin, making her meet his gaze.

She smiled slightly, taking comfort in his words. "Thank you."

They were quiet for a while. Rachel fed Noah the rest of the broth and then went about changing his dressing and washing him off. She was just pulling the blanket back up to cover him when he met her gaze.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" He grinned when she blushed.

"Noah." She warned. "Don't."

"Why?" He asked. "You know I care about you, Rachel; why can't you just admit that you care about me as well?" She ignored his question and started to walk away when she felt him grip her wrist. "Marry me, Rachel."

She turned back to him slowly when his words finally sunk in and her eyes widened. "What?"

"Marry me?"

Rachel swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and shook her head fiercely. "No."

"If this war has taught me anything it's that life is over way too fast. You have to make the most of it, Rachel. I don't want to leave here without you. Marry me." Noah told her. "I've never wanted something so much before in my entire pathetic life. Marry me."

Rachel pulled her hand away from him. "My cousin, Artie, he deployed right after Pearl Harbor just like you. The only difference is that he came back just a few months later. The Germans… they shot him in the spine. He was in a wheelchair when he came back. His wife, Brittany, loved him just as much when he came back as she did before he got injured. She loves him so much but you should see the way he looks at himself in the mirror. He wishes they had been killed; that the surgeons hadn't saved him. All he's ever wanted to do was dance. He and I… we used to dance in the middle of my dad's living room for hours; until our legs would just give out and we'd collapse in the floor. He can't do that anymore because he was wounded; because of this stupid war." She felt the tears wells in her eyes.

"Don't cry, Rachel. Don't be sad."

"I'm not sad. I'm mad, Noah. There are people killing_ people_. It's disgusting, and for what? Power? This entire war is about power, Noah." Rachel sucked in a deep breath. "I see so many soldiers coming through here that don't make it and I can't imagine how their families at home feel when they learn that they died over here. They died in this war." She stepped back from his bed, distancing herself from him. "I won't be a widow, Noah, but more than that, I won't be the wife of a soldier." She turned on her heel and rushed off, leaving Noah to stare after her.

Rachel was outside, trying to catch her breath when she heard someone come up beside her. Looking over, she found Betty on the other side of her.

"What's going on with you and Sergeant Puckerman?" Betty asked, getting straight to the point. "I've had this problem before, my nurses getting too close to patients, and I'm just warning you now, it never works. You'll get hurt."

"There's nothing going on." Rachel said quietly.

Betty met Rachel's eyes. "I don't like being lied to." Betty told her. "I try not to meddle in people's lives but I'm telling you to stay away from Sergeant Puckerman, understand?"

Rachel silently nodded and watched as Betty walked off. Rachel took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her, trying to figure out exactly when her life started to spiral out of her hands.

* * *

January 8th, 1944

Noah was scheduled to leave two days later. Rachel had spent the last two days avoiding him as much as possible. She worked on the other side of the tent as often as she could and then she'd leave as soon as her work was done so as to avoid Noah. It wasn't until the day that he would be leaving that Noah finally had a chance to get her attention.

"Rachel?" Noah called out to her when she was forced to walk straight past his bed. She bit into her bottom lip as she tried to ignore him but his voice sounded so desperate. "Please, Rach, why are you avoiding me? Did I do something wrong?"

"I…" She stopped at the foot of his bed and met his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rachel. Whatever I did… I'm sorry." Noah pleaded with her.

Rachel looked up from Noah's bed to see Betty's eyes on the two of them. "I can't… I'm sorry as well." She clutched the dirty linens tighter in her hands and moved past his bed, past Betty, and out of the tent for some air.

Rachel was standing outside, right by that tree Noah had kissed her under, when she saw the truck pull up. She knew it was the truck that would be taking Noah, along with several other wonderfully healing soldiers, to the warship that would be taking them home; taking them back to the states.

She heard the nurses and doctors inside start to bring the soldiers that would be leaving outside and help them into the truck. She sighed and turned to find Noah standing by the flap of the tent.

He stepped towards her but she shook her head.

"Come on, Puckerman." Finn slapped Puck on the back with his good hand and the two men started towards the truck.

Rachel was trying to convince herself of the reasons to not walk over to the truck and say something; anything to Noah and at this moment she couldn't find a reason.

They were just closing the door of the truck when Rachel called out for them to wait. "Stop!" She yelled and grabbed the door, jerking it back open. "Can I just… can I have a second with Sergeant Puckerman?"

The man nodded and left Rachel alone to talk to Noah. Noah looked up from his spot beside Finn in the back of the truck and found Rachel's eyes. "Rachel." Noah whispered and moved out of the truck, following Rachel to the tree; _the_ tree.

"I need… I just need to see you, one last time before you go." Rachel whispered and crossed her arms around her as she bit back the tears. "You're leaving. You're going home, Noah."

"I know." Noah nodded. "I've known that for a while now. _You've_ known that and you've been ignoring me." His brow creased and the emotions flooded his eyes.

"I… Noah, I…" She stepped towards him and her breath caught in her throat. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too." He whispered, closing the space between them and gathering her into a hug which she quickly reciprocated. "So damn much, Rach."

She clung tightly to him and his hands pulled her closer and closer. "Noah." She pulled back from him and his forehead rested against hers. "I think I might… might be falling in love with you." She said quietly, scared of the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Noah's hands gripped her hips tightly. "I think I might already be in love with you." He chuckled softly and his breath danced across her cheek.

"Noah." She whispered, gripping his arms, her fingernails digging into the flesh of his biceps. "I can't believe this is happening. Why do you have to go?"

"I don't know." He replied honestly. "It's not fair, is it?"

"No." Rachel replied even though she knew he wasn't expecting an answer. "I wish… there was some way you could stay here… or maybe I could go with you."

"I'm going to kiss you now." Noah told her.

"Please." She nodded fiercely and lifted her face, trying to seek out his lips.

His hands tangled in her hair and she felt her heart jump when his lips grazed across her cheek. "I'm going to find you. After this damn war is over and you're back home, I'm going to find you, Rach." He promised. "I will."

His lips met hers hesitantly and she sucked in a gasp. She tried to take comfort in his words but she knew they would most likely never see each other again. She wanted to believe him; believe that he would follow out on his promises but she hadn't been raised to hope for something as hopeless as this.

"Noah." She murmured before his tongue eagerly danced into her mouth.

She gripped the back of his neck. This kiss was different from the others. They knew this was different; that even if Noah did find her after the war it could be years from now before they even saw each other. He gripped the back of her head harder, trying to fuse the two of them together. He never wanted to stop kissing her and he was sure she was feeling something similar.

As much as he hated to, he finally pulled away when he heard Finn calling his name.

"You still owe me that song." Noah whispered, out of breath, and still holding onto Rachel. "When I find you, you're going to sing me that song."

"Of course, Sergeant." She smiled sadly. "Promise me you'll be safe. Promise me you'll go home and get well and stay there. Don't come back to England; don't come back to this war. Please, Noah, just promise me."

"I promise." He lied and by her expression he was almost sure that a little part of her knew he was lying as well. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him soundly on the lips. It wasn't rushed; it was sweet and gentle and the perfect way to say goodbye. At least for now.

Rachel stood under the tree, hugging herself, as she watched Noah get back into the truck. He offered her one last wave before he shut the door. She saw Finn wave at her as well and then they were gone. The truck pulled off, taking Noah away from her.

She sniffled, quickly wiping away any tears that might have escaped and turned to go back inside the tent. She spotted Betty a few feet away, watching her and Rachel was sure she had seen the entire thing with Noah.

"He's gone." Rachel tried to bite back her anger at her superior but it was futile. "Are you happy now?"

Rachel rushed past Betty, not waiting for an answer to her question and quickly started back with her work. She needed to keep herself busy or else her head would be flooded with thoughts of Noah. She only let her eyes dance towards Noah's bed once, bed 37, before she returned to washing a wounded soldier.

She was sure that tomorrow more soldiers would be injured and brought here, filling up bed 37, and all thoughts of Noah would go away. If only it was that easy.

* * *

A/N: I know I said this would most likely be about two parts but apparently I was lying because as of now there are three parts. I know this is a little shorter than the first part but I thought this was a good place to end this. Plus, my personal life has been pretty busy and I thought you guys deserved an update since you have left all of those amazing reviews. Hope you guys like this update. Let me know.

Not beta'd, all mistakes are mine.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: Another late post and a rather short chapter but I'm trying, I really, really am. I'm running on about four hours of sleep a night, five if I'm lucky, trying to balance all of my classes and work. With everything I have going on it doesn't leave much time for fanfiction. I'm sorry this update took so long but I'm try to get the next one up soon.

* * *

January 23rd, 1945

"Aw, come on, Ma." Noah groaned. "Stop with all the kisses. The guys are going to see."

"My son is leaving for England. He's going back to that war and I don't know when I'm going to see him again." Mrs. Puckerman wiped the lipstick she had left on his cheek.

"I'm going to come home, Ma." Noah assured her. "You can't get rid of me that easily. I just have to finish out this war and then I'm coming home for good. I can't sit in Ohio while my men are in another country fighting without me. I made a promise and I'm going to keep. Hopefully, this damn war will end soon and I'll be home by New Year's."

"I'll pray for you." She hugged him tight. "And don't forget to write me. I'm going to be sitting at home listening to the radio, praying for news that this war will be over and that my only son will come back home to me. In one piece. I don't want any more injuries young man." She let go at him reluctantly. "Now go on, get on the train."

"I love you, Ma." Noah hugged her one last time.

"I love you too, Noah." Her face was lined with worry as he hoisted his bag over his shoulder and made his way onto the train with the other shoulders. He turned back and waved at her before disappearing.

Mrs. Puckerman took a long, deep breath, praying with everything she had that her son would make it back to her okay. She gave the train one last glance as it pulled away, taking her son with it.

* * *

February 17th, 1945

Rachel wiped the sweat from her brow as the long surgery on a wounded soldier was about to be wrapped up. She'd been standing for almost two hours as the surgeon amputated a young soldier's leg. Rachel was not looking forward to having to tell this young man that he would never walk again when he woke up.

The soldier was taken away and another one was brought in not long after with a gaping wound to his abdomen.

"I need more gloves." The surgeon told Rachel and she tensed.

"We…" She furrowed her brow. "We don't have any more gloves." Rachel said quietly.

"Excuse me?" The surgeon looking over his shoulder at Rachel. "I'm about to stick my hands into a wounded soldier and you're telling me we don't have any gloves?"

"We ran out this morning. We haven't gotten a new shipment in yet." Rachel explained. "We've tried to ration them but we thought the delivery of new supplies would be here yesterday."

"I'm going to stick my dirty hands, wrist deep, into a man's gut." The surgeon shook his head. "I hate this damn war. I hate having to cut off perfectly good limbs because we don't have the supplies to savage them." He spat. "All I need is gloves. Is that too much to be asking for?" He yelled at Rachel who stepped back.

"I-I'll see if I can find some." Rachel hurried off, knowing that her search was futile.

* * *

March 30th, 1945

"You ready?" Noah looked over at his right hand man and best friend since he had gotten back to England three months ago.

"No." Sam shook his head.

"Well, you better get ready. I don't think those damn Germans are going to care that you need a few minutes to deep-breathe." Noah told him.

"If I die, can you let my mom and my dad know that I love them?"

"You aren't going to die." Noah shook his head. "I ain't gonna let that happen. Now get your ass ready 'cuz I need you to have my back." Noah looked over at his friend. "You've got my back, right?"

"Always." Sam nodded, swallowing thickly.

"Let's blow this shit." Noah whispered, just as nervous as his blonde friend beside him.

* * *

March 31st, 1945

"Can you see it?" Rachel asked. "They're driving really fast. It must be bad." She sighed, hugging herself tighter. It was the middle of the night and the jeep was pulling up quickly. "How many soldiers do you think there are this time?"

"I'm not sure." Emma, a nurse that had only been here for a few months but had quickly grown close to Rachel, replied. "I don't even want to think about it. I just wish this war was over already."

"Don't we all." Rachel said, not making it sound like a question before rushing forward to the jeep that had stopped suddenly.

There were three men injured. The first was Sergeant Schuester, a handsome, curly-haired solider who only seem to have superficial wounds, mostly burns. Then there was Private Sam Evans, a young blonde man who looked much too young to be in such a horrible war with a large gash in his leg from an exploding piece of shrapnel. The last, who seemed to get the worst of it, was a familiar soldier and when Rachel saw his face she tensed and felt a huge amount of emotions rushing over her. Sergeant Puckerman was conscious, surprisingly, and had a gaping wound to his leg as well. A wound Rachel wasn't sure the surgeon would be able to fix.

"Noah." Rachel whispered when she reached out to grab his hand. "You… you were supposed to go home."

"I did." He didn't look all that surprised to see her, but it may have been because he was barely conscious and probably didn't even know who she was. "I came back. I had to."

"You… you are a stupid, stupid man, Sergeant Puckerman." Rachel shook her head, fighting back the tears. "You promised me you wouldn't come back."

"They ambushed us, Rachel." Noah sighed. "My men and I… we weren't expecting it. Are they okay? Schuester and Evans? They have to be okay. Will was pretty far away, he shouldn't have been that hurt but Sam… he was right beside me. I shoved him but I heard him. He got hit. Where is he?"

"He's going to be okay." Rachel whispered as they moved Noah towards the room the surgeon would be operating on him. "I promise, Noah, he's going to be okay."

* * *

April 9th, 1945

Noah, Sam, and Will hadn't been at the hospital long. Sergeant Schuester had already healed remarkably well and would be leaving soon.

"How are we doing today, Private Evans?" Rachel asked, moving towards Sam's bed with the soldier's breakfast. "Better, I hope."

"I'm better." He nodded. "You've been taking great care of me."

"It's my job." Rachel smiled, setting up his tray so that he could eat. "You should eat this morning. It will help you heal faster." She made sure he was okay before moving onto the next bed which just happened to be Noah's.

"Good morning." Noah smiled up at her and she avoided his face.

"I'm still mad at you." She whispered, setting up his tray of food. "You shouldn't have come back. You should have stayed in Ohio; stayed with your family."

"I couldn't just sit at home while my men were here fighting." He replied, trying to catch her eyes and she reluctantly looked up at him.

"Do you know how scared I was when I saw you?" She asked and he had to strain to hear her. "I couldn't breathe, Noah. I… you broke your promise."

"Rachel." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. "I made a promise to this country. I had to keep it. But look at me… I'm okay. My leg, it's wounded but it will heal. I'm going to walk again, eventually. I'm going to be okay, Rachel."

She felt the tears well up in her eyes as she nodded before sinking onto the bed beside him and burying her face into his chest, bunching his shirt in her fists. "Don't ever leave me." She choked on the sob and he smoothed down her hair, trying to comfort her.

"I won't." He promised and he meant it.

"I know what I said before you left… I know I said I didn't want to be a soldier's wife but I was wrong. I want you, Noah, however I can have you and if that means I have to deal with that fact that you're a soldier I can do that. I want you and only you." She told him quietly, her sobs subsiding.

"As soon as this war is over and we're back home, we're getting married." He said seriously. "Ma is going to love you." He kissed her temple.

"Noah." She whispered and looked around suddenly, meeting Betty's gaze from the other side of the room. "We have to keep this quiet. Betty, she doesn't want me to be with you and she's my superior. I know there isn't a rule about us being together but it's frowned upon."

"The hell with them." Noah frowned. "I love you, Rachel."

A small smiled graced her lips and she looked back at him. "We'll be together soon." She promised before standing up quickly, wiping away the tears, and moved to finish passing out the trays.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: I'm warning you in advance, the dates are most likely not correct. I haven't had a history class in about two years but I'm almost positive that Germany surrendered on May 8th. I might be wrong so I kind of just guessed on the dates. Also, there is one more chapter. It's going to be a bit longer just because I have so much stuff to fit into it. I'm hoping I have it up by next weekend, but I'm not making any promises.

* * *

May 9th, 1945

May ninth found almost everyone surrounded by small radios listening to the news that Germany has surrendered and that the war in Europe was officially over. Everyone in their homes rejoiced, thanking God that this war was starting to come to a close.

Rachel was listening closely to the details of the surrender as the wounded soldiers cheered, some weeping as they came to the realization they would see their families soon.

* * *

May 17th, 1945

"You better write me." Noah gripped Rachel's hand as she helped him into the back of the jeep. "Every week, Rachel."

"I will." She smiled. "And you'll keep me updated on the home front?" She asked.

"Yes." He brought her hand up to kiss the inside of her wrist.

"I'll be home soon. I don't know exactly when but I'll be home as soon as they'll let me." Rachel told me. "There are so many soldiers left, Noah, but we're sending them home as quickly as we can."

"Be careful over here."

"You'll find me, right?" She asked, suddenly nervous. "You promised you would. You better find me, Sergeant."

"I will." He pulled her over for a tight hug. "I promise I will."

She laughed softly. "I'm going to hold you to that." Rachel pulled away from him as the other healed soldier's started to shuffle into the vehicle. "I'll miss you."

"Me too." He kissed her chastely, loving the taste of her lips. "You better wait for me. You better not fall in love with some other wounded soldier."

"Then you better find me quickly. I'm not getting any younger and I can't wait forever." She slipped a paper into the palm of his hand. "That's my address. Ohio. Don't lose it." Rachel smiled sadly and backed away, the jeep getting ready to leave.

She stood there, hugging herself as she watched the jeep drive off, taking with it the man she loved for the second time. Only this time she knew she'd get him back. If he didn't find her, she'd find him. She watched until it disappeared and she sighed, wishing she could be going home with Noah.

She missed her parents; she missed Artie, and even Brittany. She missed dancing and singing and going to see late nice shows with friends. She missed when she was younger and she didn't know how much hate this world was filled with. She missed her innocence and her idea that everything was perfect. She missed when she hadn't seen how much damage men could do to each other. She missed the time when the most violence she had been exposed to was when her parents bickered over dinner. She just missed being home.

* * *

May 20, 1945

It took three days for Noah to get home but he was finally back. His smile was huge when he walked into his house. He could smell his mother's cooking – something he had missed greatly – and could even hear his sister listening to the radio in the other room.

"Anyone home?" He called out.

"Noah?" His sister, Sarah, poked her head around the corner, her eyes widening when she saw him. She shrieked loudly and basically pounced onto him, hugging him tight.

"What in the world is going on in here?" His mother walked into the den to see what the commotion was and gasped.

Noah expected her to laugh and hug him as well but her face contorted in anger and she walked over to smack him on the head.

"Ma?" Noah rubbed his head. "Aren't you glad to see me?"

She smacked him a few more times, swatting at his arm. "You couldn't even write your own mother to tell her how you were doing. I've been here worried sick that you could be lying in a trench dead somewhere in another continent and then you show up without even sending a letter to let me know that you're coming home!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Noah shrugged. "Plus, I've been kind of busy so I didn't have time to sit down and write you."

"You could have called." She smacked his arm.

"Didn't have a phone." He shrugged again. "And neither do you."

"Oh, we do now!" Sarah smiled brightly, pulling him towards the hallway that led to the kitchen. "Ma had it put in two months ago. One ring is for the sheriff, two is for Mr. Coolsby down the road, three is for that rich family across town, and four rings mean it's for us."

"Sarah, the boy just got home, I'm sure he's hungry. Let him eat before you bombard him." Mrs. Puckerman complained, walking back to the kitchen, still grumbling about an inconsiderate son under her breath.

"I missed you, too, Sarah." Noah hugged his sister and let her drag him into the kitchen.

His mother slid him a plate of food when he sat down at the table and stood there watching him eat. He ate the sandwich greedily and didn't object when she offered him another one. Mrs. Puckerman washed the single dish silently and Noah furrowed his brow when he heard her start to sob.

"Ma? What's wrong?" Noah asked. "I'm home; I'm safe. Why are you crying?"

Mrs. Puckerman turned quickly and clung to her son with all she had. "I missed you, is all." She replied and didn't care that she was wrinkling his worn shirt or that she was getting it wet.

"I'm home." He repeated, trying to soothe her. "I'm safe."

* * *

May 29th, 1945

Rachel straightened up the bed of a soldier who had just left for the U.S. this morning and sighed. Most of the beds were empty and she was grateful. The sooner the soldier's went home, she sooner she'd get to go home.

She was trying to fix her hair from falling down in her face again when she heard Emma squeal from the other side of the large tent. The red-head was soon rushing over to Rachel and hugging the smaller women hard.

"We're going home!" Emma shrieked and pulled away.

"Slow down." Rachel furrowed her brow. "What?"

"I just talked to Betty. She's sending most of the nurses home, just the ones she doesn't need any more since there are only about twenty soldiers left. Me, you, and six other nurses. We're going home, Rachel."

"When?" Rachel asked.

"We leave when the jeep picks up the next group of soldiers." Emma hugged her again.

"That's Saturday." Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"I know." Emma giggled.

Rachel couldn't help but laugh and hug Emma back. She was giddy with excitement. She was going home Saturday. Home to America. She laughed again, letting Emma pull her around the room, the two women dancing to the silent music in their heads. She would be leaving Saturday and going home. Home to Noah. She couldn't wait.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: Last chapter. Here we go. Thanks for everyone that has reviewed.

Not beta'd. All mistakes are mine.

* * *

August 7th, 1945

"Brittany!" Rachel squealed. "It's beautiful. When did he ask you?"

"Last night." Brittany beamed, admiring the ring on her finger. "It was so romantic. I love Artie so much. He asked for my father's permission a few days ago." She spun around the room, amazed by the way the light from the window made the small diamond sparkle. "We set the date for a few months from now."

"I'm so happy for you and Artie." Rachel smiled, watching the blonde closely. "I'm surprised you two haven't gotten married sooner."

"Well, you know how depressed he was after his accident." Brittany smiled sadly. "He was angry for a long time. Then when you went to England to help… well, I think he just wanted to wait for you two get back, Rachel. You've always meant a lot to him and honestly, he'd never get married without you being there." She sighed and sank onto Rachel's bed beside her. "I knew I'd have to wait before he asked me but I didn't mind. I want you to be at my wedding."

"Have you decided on a location?"

Brittany shrugged. "Our church. It's going to be really small. Only family is invited."

"That's sounds intimate." Rachel smiled. "I'm sure it will beautiful. Artie will get a nice outfit and I'll even help you pick out a gorgeous dress. It will be perfect, Brittany."

"What about…?" Brittany stood up. "The letters you sent me while you were over in England, you kept mentioning this Sergeant. Was he important to you?"

Rachel laughed softly. "He was." She nodded, moving to walk across the room. She pretended to sift through her ribbon basket. "He still is."

"Do you want to tell me about him? You haven't talked about the war. Your dads are a little worried about you." Brittany sighed.

"I'm fine." Rachel forced a smile. "It's just… he promised he would look for me. It's been over two months since I got back and even longer for him. What if he got tired of trying? What if he forgot about me?" She complained, trying to keep from sounding whiny but failing miserably.

Brittany pursed her lips as if she was trying to decide what to say. She was about to say something when Artie's voice drifted up the stairs of the house. Brittany quickly smiled and jumped up from the bed. "We'll talk about this later, Rachel. I promise."

"Yea." Rachel replied meekly and then slowly followed Brittany down the stairs.

When she reached the end of the steps Brittany was in Artie's lap and kissing his cheek. Rachel couldn't keep the smile off of her face. Artie and Brittany deserved each other. They were incredibly happy and Rachel wished them the best.

/

August 14th, 1945

"So Quinn doesn't mind me staying with you two for a little bit?" Noah asked. He was sitting in the Hudson's small kitchen area, enjoying a nice, cold beer with Finn. Finn and Quinn had gotten married as soon as he got home. They didn't want to waste any time.

"Not at all." Finn shook his head. "I told her about you and Rachel. I think she likes the idea of helping you find this mysterious woman you fell in love with while you were wounded. She says it would make for a great book." He chuckled. "Quinn said you could stay as long as you wanted."

"Thanks." Noah sighed. "I'm so glad this damn war is finally over. I didn't want to leave my Ma until it was. I've been trying to find Rachel but I haven't had much luck." He shook his head. "Where the hell is Lima, Ohio anyway?"

"I'm really sorry I can't be any help." Finn frowned. "But you're only a few hours from Lima I think. It can't be that big of a town so she should be pretty easily to find."

"I hope so." Puck downed the last of his beer. "It's late. I'm going to try to get some sleep."

/

August 17th, 1945

"You look beautiful, Brittany." Rachel smiled fondly at the dress Brittany was wearing. "Absolutely stunning. Artie is going to love it." The small brunette woman walked closer and tried to help pull the dress back to fit Brittany's frame better.

"I love this color on me." Brittany grinned. "Thank you so much for agreeing to make me a dress for the wedding. Artie said I could go to town and buy me a really nice one but I'd like to save up our money. Artie wants kids soon and so do I. I'm just glad that you know how to sew and everything."

"I don't mind, Brittany." Rachel shook her head. "My dress may not be as nice as one you can buy from a store but I'm happy that you asked me."

"I want you to know that I care about you, Rachel. You're Artie's family… that makes you my family, too." Brittany told the woman quietly.

Rachel blushed and looked up at Brittany through the mirror. "Thank you, Brittany."

"You're welcome." Brittany smoothed the dress down in the front and stood a little straighter. "Do you think that Artie and I will make cute children?"

"I think you'll make lovely children." Rachel replied.

"How many should we have, Rachel? I don't want too many." Brittany sighed. "But family seems important to Artie and I want to make him happy."

"You make him happy. I'm sure he'll be fine with how many ever children you want."

Brittany quiet for a while and Rachel knew it was coming before the blonde even opened her mouth. "Do you want to talk about that Sergeant yet? I'd love to hear about him. You always spoke so highly of him in your letters to me."

"Noah." Rachel said quietly. "That was his name: Noah Puckerman." She smiled as she retold the story of her encounters with Noah to Brittany.

/

August 19th, 1945

"Take these." Quinn shoved the plate at Noah's chest. "It's a long drive and I made you a lunch."

"Thanks, Quinn." Noah smiled and jumped into his truck after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"You'll have to bring this Rachel girl around sometime. I'd love to meet her." The blonde grinned. "Plus, I kind of need to thank her for caring for my husband." Finn hugged her side. "Be careful on the drive, Noah."

"I hope you find your girl." Finn yelled as Noah pulled out of the driveway, heading towards Ohio.

Noah blew out a breath. It was nearly noon and he still had hours before he got to Lima. He checked the map one last time to make sure he was heading the right way and shifted to get comfortable in his old farm truck. He had told him Ma that he could just take the train most of the way there and walk the rest of the way but she insisted that he take his truck. She said that she didn't leave the house much anyway and when she did, she and his sister could just walk. He didn't argue with her any longer. He really didn't want to walk all of that way anyway. He still walked with a limp and he hated it. Plus, it would be faster if he took his truck. He didn't want to waste any time to find Rachel. He'd already lost enough time because of this war.

His eyes were drooping when he finally saw the sign to welcome him to Lima. His face broke out in a smile and suddenly he wasn't tired anymore. It was just starting to get dark, the horizon was lit up with hues of oranges and pinks. He drove through the town slowly and finally stopped at the post office. Surely, someone there would know where the Berry house was.

/

Brittany and Artie had left a few hours ago. Rachel's dad was on the porch, listening to the radio and she had taken it upon herself to bring the clothes in from the line. She was in her work dress, a dull yellow color with worn patches and stains covering the front. Her hair was pulled up into a bun but her bangs were framing her face, tickling her cheeks when the wind blew just right. She smiled back at her dad when she heard a song come over the radio. Rachel danced along with the song slowly as she pulled the clothes carefully off of the line and into the small basket in front of her.

"Sing for me, Rachel." Her dad told her and she giggled before obeying his soft command.

_Someday I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far  
Behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemon drops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me_

Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly  
Birds fly over the rainbow

Rachel's voice carried over to her father and he hummed along, enjoying how pure Rachel's voice sounded. She had always liked to sing and he had always liked listening to her. They both stopped, singing and humming, when a truck slowly creaked up the road. No one ever came down this road. It led straight back to the Berry's farm.

Rachel continued to carefully fold the clothes and tuck them into her basket but her father laid down his paper and stepped from the porch, eyeing the truck as it slowed to a stop in front of the house.

The truck was parked pretty far away and the sheets on the line were obscuring her vision but Rachel recognized the man instantly. Her breath hitched and the man started to walked towards her and her father, a slight limp in his step. The shirt of her father's in her hand fell to her feet and she took a careful step forward. Was this really happening?

"Hello, Sir." The man nodded to her father, Henry Berry. "Good evening."

"What can I do for you, young man?"

"Well, actually…" Noah smiled and looked over the man's shoulder to see Rachel.

Henry's brow furrowed when he heard his daughter squeal but then she was running past him and basically pouncing on the young man. She showered the man's face with kisses and his arms held her around her waist, holding her up when her legs wrapped around him and her hands clung to his neck. Henry Berry found it an odd way to say hello but he had a feeling that Rachel knew this man. They definitely didn't seem to be stranger.

His daughters laughter rang out into the evening and Henry stepped forward, determined to find out who exactly Rachel seemed to be so fond of. He cleared his throat loudly even though she had her back to him, he knew she was starting to blush. She untangled herself from Noah and turned to face her father. It wasn't lost on Henry that the two young people in front of him couldn't seem to keep their hands off of his other. Noah had one arm wrapped around her waist still while her hand was twining their fingers together.

"Noah Puckerman, Sir." Henry could tell that Noah wanted to shake his hand but Rachel wasn't having any of that.

"So you're the one that my daughter has been talking about since she got back." Henry smiled.

"Rachel talked about me?" Noah smiled down at the girl in question and she blushed profusely.

"It took you a while." Henry nodded. "To find her, I mean. She was starting to worry that you weren't coming."

"I got here as soon as I could." Noah told the two of them. "I never stopped thinking about you, Rachel."

Rachel turned back and hugged him hard. "I never stopped thinking about you, either, Noah." She took a deep breath. "I can't believe you're here. I feel like if I let go of you, you're going to disappear."

"I'm not going anywhere." He promised. "I'll stay with you as long as you'll let me."

"Forever?" She asked, her voice almost child-like.

Noah looked up at Henry, who nodded. "Forever." Noah whispered.

/

Noah didn't have a lot of money but they found this really small farm house not too far from the Berry farm. Rachel said that they could move to be closer to his Ma but he insisted that they stay in Lima. He had been saving up some money and Rachel's dad loaned them some money, although Noah was adamant he would pay him back. Henry just shrugged and made Noah promise to take good care of Rachel. Noah held good to that promise, making sure Rachel got whatever she wanted.

They were married the next week. It was a small ceremony; not nearly as nice as the one Artie and Brittany were going to have but Rachel insisted they do it as soon as possible. She told him that she wanted to be Mrs. Puckerman and that it didn't matter if she was wearing the old dress she had on when he had showed up in Lima; she just really wanted to marry him already. She didn't want a big wedding so they drove to the synagogue, the only one in Lima, on a Tuesday and had a small Jewish ceremony. They took pictures and sent them to his mother and sister as soon as they could.

Noah told Rachel that once they had enough money they would get a bigger, nicer house but she refused.

"I like this house." She told him. "It's ours. The first thing that we can ours. I don't need a big house. This house has three bedrooms, Noah. One for us… and we can fill the other two with kids." She said sheepishly. They hadn't really talked about kids but she just assumed. She wasn't sure how he would react but he just picked her up and kissed her, whispering in her ear how much she meant to him.

It was their wedding night and everyone had finally gone home to give the newlyweds some privacy. Rachel was nervous but she could tell Noah was too. She knew he had done this before, the whole making love thing, but she hadn't and they could both tell. She hated that he had some experience and she had no idea what to do.

He kissed her sweetly, assuring her that everything was alright, and he took his time. They were under the covers, naked, and she was studying his face when he smiled and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose. Her stomach was twisting and felt like it was trying to jump right out of her throat. His head dipped down and kissed her cheek, still whispering soothing things into her ear. She could feel him, aroused against her thigh and it just made her more nervous. She was afraid she would do something wrong.

"Rachel." He whispered and pulled back to look her in the eyes. "I love you."

He said those three words and suddenly, her stomach stopped doing flips. She wasn't nervous anymore. She took cues from him, letting him subtly lead her into the role she was supposed to be playing. He assured her that everything would be alright, that this night was just about making her feel good. He took it slow, not wanting to hurt her. Her breathing sped up as he pushed into her and she held her breath when the pain washed over her.

He slowed his pace and moved his lips against hers like he was trying to kiss her pain away. It helped a little bit and kissed him back, focusing on how his lips felt on hers. Soon, he was pushed all of the way in and she urged him to start moving. It decided on a slow, tortuous pace but they both enjoyed it, taking the time to absorb each other.

Rachel caught on quickly, learning how he reacted to her kissing him in certain places or how he moaned when she trailed her fingertips down his spine. She smiled, happy she could get this kind of reaction out of him and then it was over. He pushed her to the edge and she cried his name out as they shuddered together. He pulled out of her then and collapsed onto the bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"I never got to hear you sing." He commented lazily, his voice laced with sleep and happiness. "I want to hear your song, Rachel."

She placed an open-mouthed kiss to his bare chest and shifted under the quilt to snuggled up next to him. "What do you want me to sing?" She asked quietly.

"Anything. You could sing Happy Birthday and I'd be okay with it." She giggled at that and then took a few seconds to think of a good song.

"I love you, Noah." She whispered. "And I think this song is perfect for tonight."

_Stars shining bright above you_  
_Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"_  
_Birds singin' in the sycamore tree_  
_Dream a little dream of me_

_Say nighty-night and kiss me_  
_Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me_  
_While I'm alone and blue as can be_  
_Dream a little dream of me_

_Stars fading but I linger on dear_  
_Still craving your kiss_  
_I'm longing to linger till dawn dear_  
_Just saying this_

_Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you_  
_Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you_  
_But in your dreams whatever they be_  
_Dream a little dream of me_

_Stars fading but I linger on dear_  
_Still craving your kiss_  
_I'm longing to linger till dawn dear_  
_Just saying this_

Noah pulled her closer, amazed by her voice and kissed the top on her head. He let the sleep take over his body as she sang the last few lyrics quietly, almost like a lullaby.

_Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you_  
_Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you_  
_But in your dreams whatever they be_  
_Dream a little dream of me_

The End


End file.
